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7.30 Report with Leigh Sales ABC TV (2018)

Back out of the closet and onto the dance floor

Hundreds of members of the LGBTI community have gathered in central Melbourne for the second 'Coming Back Out Ball', which celebrates those who led the charge out of the closet. But behind the glitz and glamour, the event also addresses issues of social isolation, ageism and homophobia.

JUNKEE (2018)

The Community And Joy Of The Coming Back Out Ball

The ballroom dance floor fills with couples slow dancing, elders doing the nut bush with their carers, groups of friends throwing their hands in the air. I thought to myself: is there anything better in this world than watching old queers grab ass on a dance floor? I can’t think of anything.

The Guardian (2018)

The Coming Back Out Ball – in pictures

Photographer Meredith O’Shea visited the Coming Back Out Ball, an event celebrating LGBTI elders in Melbourne. The event was created and produced by All the Queens Men, which creates theatrical and participatory arts experiences

JOY FM: Mad Wednesdays with Robbie & Dean (2018)

The Coming Back Out Ball is back with Tristan Meecham

Coming back out by popular demand, The Coming Back Out Ball returns in 2018 & Tristan Meecham joined MAD Wednesday to tell them all about it. The Coming Back Out Ball makes the invisible visible, the forgotten remembered and the past treasured and valued.”

Assemble Papers (2017)

The Poetics of Partying

Elderly LGBTI people are much more likely to experience social isolation than their straight counterparts, without the support of traditional family structures. We want to create intergenerational connections and family in the queer sense of the word – a family you create, rather than are born into.

Radio National Life Matters (2017)

What LGBTI elders think of SSM

Recently the last dance club for the year was held, and it was also the first gathering for the LGBTI elders since the results of the same sex marriage survey were announced.
RN's Fiona Pepper went along to the dance to hear how the elders were feeling since the outcome of the postal survey.

Channel 9 News (2017)

Sky News (2017)

LGBTI elders have their say on postal vote

Costas said the prospect of marrying another man was never a question he thought he'd be asked. 'I can't really answer that question because theoretically it wasn't probably possible, everyone's personal journey is different, getting married, having a partner, I had no idea it would happen'.

VICE (2017)

It's Time to Listen to Your LGBTI+ Elders

It's the sadness that sticks, though. The lesbian couple in their sixties who have been in love for almost 40 years, and who politely and apologetically decline to be photographed together because they're worried about work finding out.

The Drawing Room - ABC Radio (2017)

Coming back out

For LGBTI people, the narrative tends to be focused on struggles of young adulthood. Of coming out, and finding a place in the world. A new event is honouring the elders of the LGBTI community, and reflecting on what it means to grow older as a part of that community,

Star Observer (2017)

Star Observer (2017)

Star Observer (2017)

Meet the Aussie Activist who cam out as non-binary at 76

Nancy Peck came out as non-binary when she was 76 years old. She’d been exploring gender and the many ways younger people were identifying, and as a queer person decided she wanted to shatter stereotypes around elderly people.

Melbourne Magazine (2017)

Dancing for diversity

This is our gift to say: we see you and we honour you and we want you to be part of the fabric of our community. It is important that we remember this, especially in this divisive time for LBGTI+ people.

The Age (2017)

I'm coming out: Gay elders embrace new dance club

After a lifetime of guilt and secret longings, David Morrison came out as gay at age 76. He says the LGBTI Elders Dance Club could help people "to be involved with the LGBTI communities. To not just be alone, to be willing to mix with others.

The Guardian (2017)

The Coming Back Out Ball: being out and proud and older in Australia

The Coming Back Out Ball might seem like a one-off, feel-good celebration, serving little purpose but to entertain, but its ramifications are likely to be lasting, for those on the dance floor and for the wallflowers at the side.

JOY FM - The Informer (2017)

Living and Learning from our LGBTI Elders

On this episode we look at the elderly spectrum of our rainbow community, as well as support and information services that help make our elderly community stronger, and remind us all of the relevance of their stories and lived experiences.

PBSFM 106.7FM (2017)

Arts Review (2017)

On the Couch with Robyn Archer AO

Robyn will host and perform at The Coming Back Out Ball at the Melbourne Town Hall as a premiere event of the 2017 Victorian Seniors Festival in association with the 3rd National LGBTI Ageing and Aged Care Conference on Saturday 7 October 2017.

Daily Care (2017)

Brenda - fighting for change

The Coming Back Out Ball is fantastic idea and an opportunity to make new connections in a supportive space with a diverse population, and to encourage those feeling isolated and vulnerable to join in and be themselves.

Aged Care Guide (2017)

Come along to the Coming Back Out Ball

This event is all about putting the needs and pioneering efforts of the elderly LGBTI community in the spotlight and so, all LGBTI people over the age of 65 will be able to come along to the Ball, enjoy the entertainment, food and drinks all for free.